“Emily West is an original,” Keith Urban says in “Introducing: Emily West,” premiering Wednesday, January 27, 9:30p.m./Eastern on Great American Country. “She has so much personality and energy and her spirit and her light are so compelling.”
West was an 8-year-old in Waterloo, Iowa when she first heard a Patsy Cline record and decided she wanted to sing. “I wanted to be in a pageant at the Holiday Inn inMuscatine. My mom asked, ‘Well, what are you going to do in the talent competition?’ and I go, ‘I’m going to sing a Patsy Cline song.’” Footage of a tiny West belting “Walkin’ After Midnight” is featured in the special. Several years later during a family trip to Nashville a 13-year-old West performed two songs at the famed NashvillePalace and some performance footage is also included.
West’s mom, Susan Nemmers, knew that her youngest child would move to Nashville after high school. “When she left I just had this feeling. I thought, ‘She’s not coming back.’ and she didn’t. All of my kids have pretty much fulfilled their dreams and I know that her dreams will come true.” Pursuing her bliss has not always been easy and West speaks honestly about the ups and downs of her chosen career.
Viewers get to go backstage with West for her debut Opry appearance, an experience she’ll never forget. “It was a little overwhelming,” she recalls. “It was one of those full circle moments where you’re trying so hard to get your dream to come true and it finally happens. It was surreal.”
There’s also a trip back home to Waterloo that includes a visit to her former elementary school and chats with her mom, dad and sister. During a sitdown interview with her hometown paper she acknowledges that doing interviews is a job perk but that you also have to field tough questions.
West’s forthcoming single, “Blue Sky,” (co-written with Gary Burr) features Urban. It tackles the topic of her parents’ divorce after 32 years of marriage and she treats viewers to an acoustic performance of the song (minus Urban). And while she’s the first to admit that she has no idea how things will play out, West remains committed. “We don’t know where our lives are going to go but I love this business because it’s passion and it’s a risk.”
